The Dark Queen's Past
by kirbywarriors
Summary: A Leoperrine living in a world of one. And one alone. (NO LONGER A KIRBY FIC DUE TO LACK OF ELEMENTS, DISCONTINUED ON FF)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When I was a young kitten, I lived in Destonia, home to the ferines. It's just above the castle of Abeline, where my twin sister rules the kingdom now with her daughter. I lived in a small house with Cadence, and our father, Nikolai, who was a ferine. He found me and Cadence when we were newborns and raised us as his daughters. It was nearly winter time, and Cadence and I were outside in the backyard playing together. She and I would always have fun together when we were young, we may be the same age, but we get along like two peas in a pod. It was serene in Destonia and I liked it, I was living a perfect life as a kitten.

"Girls!" Our father called out from the porch. "It's almost time for dinner!"

"OK, Daddy!" Cadence called back.

I smiled back in response as Nikolai closed the door. I then looked down at the light brown grass and moved one paw forward, experimentally. Cadence looked back at me and tilted her head in confusion.

"What are you doing, Clarice?" asked my sister with curiosity.

"Thinking." I answered, not looking up.

Cadence, now full of curiosity asked me once again. "About what?"

I answered with a shrug. Occasionally, I would think about something related to the point, but other times, I would think at random or for no apparent reason. I was usually quiet mostly when I was little. After a few moments of silence I opened my mouth to speak. "Come on, Cadence. Let's go inside. Dinner might be ready."

My sister nodded and we went back inside, seeing our father in the dining room, with dinner on the table.

"You came right on time you two! I was just about to get ya." Nikolai said with a chuckle.

We both smiled as we took our seats and started having our dinner. During our dinnertime, Father and Cadence would mostly do the talking and eating, but sometimes I would join in with their chats. When we were done with our food, we cleaned up the table and Cadence and I went upstairs to our room. Cadence hopped up on her bed while I stared out the window, seeing the lights of the houses in the town belonging to the other citizens of Destonia, some that had children. I let out a small sigh as I stared outside, watching the big white moon rising up into the dark, starry night sky.

"Hey, Cadence?" I said, breaking the silence.

Cadence put down her book that she was reading and looked at me. "Yeah, Clarice? What's up?"

"Do you think that I am different?" I asked.

My sister tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

I let out a small sigh once again as I still stared outside. My ears managed to droop a little. "Well..." I let out another sigh again. "The ferine children tease me for my powers, and my clumsiness... I feel like...I don't fit in..."

Cadence lashed her tail in disbelief and gave me a bit of serious look. "That's not true, sister! Of course you fit in! And who cares what those ferine kids think about you?" She replied a bit sternly.

"I guess." I responded.

"Besides, since it's going to snow tomorrow, I was wondering if you could come with me and play in the snow, with some other kids?"

"Maybe. I suppose I'll give the kids who teased me another chance. I'll have to ask Papa."

Cadence nodded and continued reading her book.

I continued to stare out the window, seeing that the moon had fully rose and the stars were twinkling and shining bright like diamonds in a cave. It was simply a pretty sight. I suddenly started feeling light headed and sleepy and let out a small yawn. Everytime I would stare at something so magical and pretty, it would sometimes give me a tired feeling and lull me to bed. I got my paws off the window sill and went to my bed and got under the covers as Nikolai came in to say goodnight. I saw Cadence close her book and put it on the sidetable as Father tucked her in and kissed her goodnight. He then walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Clarice." He said in a warm, blissful voice.

"Goodnight, Papa." I yawned. "Can I go outside and play in the snow tomorrow with Cadence and some other kids?"

Father shook his head in response. "No, Clarice."

"But, why?" I asked, confused.

He was silent for a second as he look down at his hands. He then looked back at me. "Because, Clarice, you are a special type of cat. For you have powers that you need to control. Those kids...if they tease you or bully you...they will power your anger."

I gasped, shocked at Father's answer. I managed to dwell up some tears and tried to keep them in as long as possible.

"I'm so sorry for telling you this. But I'm afraid you must either play in the backyard or stay inside." he said.

I sadly nodded as he kissed me again.

"Now get some sleep."

Father got up and turned off the lights and closed the door. I got comfortable and cozy underneath my blanket. However, those words that he said floated in my head. _'I'm a_ _special kind of cat? What's that supposed to mean?'_ I thought to myself. Another yawn came out of my mouth, I was too tired to think. My eyes grew heavy and they closed on their own, soon enough I drifted off into a deep slumber, hoping that tomorrow...was going to be a good day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was snowing the next day in Destonia, all of the children where out at play, having snowball fights, building snowmen, riding on their sleds. Everyone had a wonderful time. Well...everyone...except me. I was inside the house, with Father Nikolai, I was looking out the window, admiring the gentle falling snow, my face idle as ever. I saw a few ferine children building a snowman near the house, I sighed, wishing that I was out there with Cadence, even if she was with those foolish bully ferines. Father walked up to me and pressed his hand on my back.

"Clarice, you can't just stay inside and stare at the snow all day. You have to play outside in the backyard." he spoke gently.

I turned my head around and looked at Father. "Do I have to?"

Father nodded and walked off.

I got off the couch and went upstairs and put on my winter clothes. I went out into the snowy backyard, wondering what to play. It felt different to play by yourself with no twin sister by your side, or if you even have a sibling. It felt like as if you were an only child if your sibling was with the other children. Not thinking of anything to do, I just sat in the snow and stared at it, letting out a lonely sigh. I then heard the sound of giggling and laughing, one of them sounded like Cadence's. I rose up to my paws and looked over the fence and saw her and four more ferine children, done building their snowman. I couldn't help but listen to their conservation.

"There we go!" Cadence said. "Now the snowman can be our judge!"

"Yeah!" replied a young ferine girl.

"Come on everyone! Let's build forts and have a snowball fight!" said a ferine boy.

Another child ferine managed to see me peeking through the fence and hearing their conversation.

"Hey, Cadence? Isn't that your twin sister?"

"Yeah." she answered. "Hey, Clarice! We're just about to have a snowball fight! Wanna join us?"

"Yeah!" chimed the young girl. "We still have one more spot open to form the opponent team!"

I smiled a bit, but then I looked at the house. I didn't want Father to get mad if he found out that I snuck out of the backyard just to play with my sister and the other children. But then again, this could be my chance to befriend the children of Destonia and not just be the kitten that's only friends with her sister. Turning my head back with a small smile on my face, I answered. "Yeah, sure." And with that I went through the hole in the fence and grouped up with the others.

"Great!" said my sister in delight. "Now we have enough players for a snowball fight! Clarice, you and I can be on opposite teams!"

I nodded in response and I went to one fort with two other kids. Just like that, we started our snowball fight. We went on and on for about thirty minutes. We all had a wonderful time. But just as things were going fine, a ferine child decided to take me by surprise. He snuck up behind with my back turned while holding a snowball, and he tackled me down, and covered my mouth and nose with the snowball, trying to suffocate me. I tried to cry for help so someone could make the boy stop hurting me, but nothing worked. But suddenly like as if someone was controlling me, my powers made the boy stop...by choking him. I gasped for breath and saw the ferine child choking to death. My powers stopped choking him and he gasped for breath. But he was not happy.

"Did you see that?!" he said with shock and anger. "She tried to kill me! She's a witch! A dirty rotten feline witch!"

"I...I'm sorry! It was an accident!" I apologized with fear. "I didn't mean to, honest!"

"Clarice is right!" Cadence joined in. "It was an accident!"

"Yeah right!" said a ferine girl. "You need to teach your witch sister some control!"

The other kids nodded. Tears started to dwell up in my eyes, my ears drooped down and my lips started to quiver.

"Please..." I cried. "It was an accident..."

They paid no attention and one kid pushed me down to the cold ground, my nose started to twitch.

"What's the matter wittle feline? You gonna run home and tell your daddy, you little scaredy snitch?" teased the boy.

Not taking it anymore, I kicked the child in the face very hard with my hind legs, making him earn a nose bleed. However, instead of backing down, he shape shifted into a bear.

"Oh so that's how it's gonna be huh?" he said, cleaning off the blood. "I'll show you, you little purple freak!"

And he turned my head to the side, making me breath in and out very fast. I was scared. He managed to scratch me in the cheek with his bear claws very hard. I yowled in pain and clenched my paw on to my wound and started to weep. I couldn't handle the pressure of them anymore and I rose to my paws. I had an enraged look on my face, with tears still streaming from eyes down my cheeks. The children except Cadence were all laughing at me. I started to let out a low furious hiss.

"Leave. Me. ALONE!" I yelled, which made a burst of echoes throughout the village as I stormed off crying back into the house.

Speechless, shocked, and angry, Cadence ran after me. I was in my room on my bed, sobbing profusely, with my paw cleched on to my bleeding wound. I heard the door open, and someone walking over to where I was. I could sense that it was Cadence and that she was trying to give me sympathy.

"Clarice?" she asked, eyes full of worry. "Are you ok?"

I didn't answer. I continued crying like as if she wasn't there.

Once again she tried to get my attention. "Clarice?"

"Go away!" I responded.

Cadence was shocked at my response, she backed up away from me. "Clarice, I'm just trying to give you sympathy!"

I didn't care. I turned around and stared at my sister, eyes red from crying with an enraged look. "What type of 'go away' don't you understand?!" I hissed.

Cadence backed up a few more steps. "Clarice...please."

"I _hate_ you! It's your fault those ferines don't like me! Go away!" I yelled, blaming my sister.

"Clarice..."

"GO AWAY!" I yowled one more time.

Tears in her eyes, Cadence ran out of the door. I walked up to it and slammed the door with furiousness. I was still crying. But it really wasn't Cadence's fault, it was mine. The reason it was my fault was because I blamed Cadence. I thought she wanted to see me suffer by being bullied and rejected, which was why I yelled at her. But you can't fully blame me, it was my rage that made me say that. But things couldn't have gone worse if I just listened to what Father said about staying in the backyard and only let my sister play with the kids. If only there was a way I could've fix it. However, you can't fix the mistake you've already made.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A few months have passed since the whole incident. Cadence and I never talked after that, but the reason why is because I kept on shouting at her everytime she goes near me. Ever since that happened, Father decided to split our rooms apart from each other. I didn't really care to be honest, I wouldn't want my friendship with my sister getting worse anyway. I locked myself inside my room for the past days, isolating myself from everybody. I only came out of my room just to have meals with the family, but I would stay silent the whole breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and only focus on my meal. I only said 'goodnight' to Father and not my sister. She would say 'goodnight' to me, but my responses were death stares.

If you had noticed by now, the family had changed since the incident. I was no longer outside playing with Cadence like we used to, I no longer joined in my sister's and Father's conversations like I used to, Cadence and I never shared rooms like we used to, and worst of all, Cadence and I never talked much like we used to. If only I had listened to what Father said before on that winter, none of this would've ever happened. This whole thing...was my fault.

Then one day, I was in my room playing with some dolls. Normally, whenever a little girl would play house with her dolls, she would have a small smile on her face. Not me. My face had an idle expression. Or maybe I was just bored. Your guess. I heard the doorknob turn and the creaks of the hinges going as the door slowly opened. I then started to hear the stomping of boots coming in; it was Father Nikolai. I still paid attention to my dolls as I heard him spoke.

"Hey, Clarice. I hate to bother you when you're playing and all, but...it's time to go honey." he said.

I turned my head around. "Go where?" I pondered.

"I contacted someone who knows everything in the whole entire galaxy. She lives outside of Destonia." he informed. "And she thinks she knows why you have these powers and why you gain rage everytime someone bullies you."

My ears perked up in shock, and my tail twitched. Finally, someone who actually knows why I have this, 'wretched curse'! Maybe this someone, can fix it for me! I rose up to my paws, dropping the toys. I made a bit of a weak smile and I nodded. "OK. Let's go." I meowed.

We walked out of my room and went downstairs. Before we left, Father put on his brown wrench coat and told Cadence to take care of herself and to not let any strangers in the house. While I saw Father talking to Cadence, I could tell that she looked at me every time he was talking. I didn't know if she was angry at me or just sad. But I knew that she didn't want to talk with me. I looked away, hoping that she would look back at Father.

I stared outside the window, the grass was now green and there were flowers blooming, and some snow melting too. I saw a few children playing outside. And they were playing nice with each other. Laughing, giggling, playing tag. I let out a sigh, wishing that the same would've happened to me during that one snowball fight on that winter. If only my powers didn't exist, then things would've gone well. I suddenly felt my father's hand pressed against my shoulder, which startled me and I quickly turned my head around. From the look in his eyes, I could tell that he was done talking to Cadence, meaning that it was time to go.

Without a word from our mouths, Father opened the door and we walked out of the house. We walked down the concrete sidewalk of the neighborhood, passing from house to house. I looked at them from side to side, seeing through the windows in the houses of each Ferine that lived there. Some houses had a mother and a father watching their little children play in the yard, others had couples that were expecting their future children to come, and others had old couples sitting on wooden rocking chairs on their front porch, or just Ferines that lived home alone by themselves, from young adult to elder. Everyone in the kingdom was a Ferine, except for me and Cadence of course. Our father was a Ferine, and...well...Cadence and I have no idea what species we are supposed to be. You may say that we are just...normal, average, stereotypical felines with unnatural colors. And I can tell you one thing it's true. But do felines have powers in their blood? Didn't think so. So if any of you ask what I'm supposed to be, don't ask. All I can say is that I am a special feline with powers in my blood, and I think I can say the same for Cadence.

* * *

Soon enough we reached the entrance of Destonia. The gate managed to open on its own and golden stairs started to appear, which led a long way down to the earth. Father looked at me with a bit of a smile.

"Well, what are you wait for?" he spoke. "Come along now. We best not keep her waiting."

My response was a nod for I didn't feel the urge to speak at the moment.

We went down the stairs, which took a long time. Later, we reached the bottom of the steps. Down on earth, we were in the plains, with a forest beyond it, and behind us was more grass and sunshine with a few trees. I looked up at the sky and saw some clouds that were moving, I could tell that one cloud wasn't moving, which was the kingdom of Destonia. It seemed like a tiny speck from down here, considerably speaking since it's covered up in some clouds and only a few of pure ground dwellers could enter. I stared at the sky for a while until my father got my attention with a snap of his fingers.

"Come on, Clarice." he said, a bit stern. "You'll have plenty of time to look at the sky later."

Without a response, I followed Father. We went through the plains and into the forest. When we first entered it looked rather bright and inviting with critters running around and doing their routine. But as soon as we came deeper in, it look dark and foreboding. After a few blocks, we ran into a cottage that was surrounded by dead bushes and mounted heads of ancient animals that thrived long ago. As Father and I walked up to the porch, I prayed to NOVA, hoping that this woman, young or old, would help me with this stupid curse of mine. I heard my dad knocking on the door as I prayed. And a few minutes later the door opened once I was finished with my prayers. I looked up and saw the woman standing before me and my father.

She looked old and had a strip of hair covering her right eye and had long white hair that went down to her stubby legs, her nails were the length of a tiger's and wore a black cloak over her rags and had old ancient jewel accessories on her from earrings to brackets. And she wore old brown boots. Her skin looked pale and rather dry. And she had a bunch of black bumps on her hand and a bunch of wrinkles under her eyes.

My eyes were full of surprise, for I did not expect the woman to look like that at all. _From the looks of her age, she looks like she must've lived more than a century._ I thought.

"Why, hello there young kit." she greeted, which made me stop staring at her weirdly. "I've been expecting you. Come in, come, come. Make yourselves at home."

We both went inside the woman's old and worn down cottage. The inside looked rather weird too. There were a bunch of old and ancient artifacts every were, some were even used for her furniture. The whole entire carpet floor was made of fur that was from an unknown species. And her gate was made of bone and she even used the bones as firewood (how she got to light the fireplace by using the bones as firewood is beyond me.).

"Have a seat on my couch." commanded the old woman.

We obeyed the elder's orders and we sat down on the couch. The woman then sat down in her chair, which was made of olden armor. I looked around at the woman's decorations in her home as I heard my father and her starting a conversation.

"Now, state your names." I heard her.

"I'm Nikolai." Father answered. "And this is my daughter, Clarice."

"I see." She replied. "Was she born with these powers or cursed?"

"Born." I heard my father's answer. "And she nearly killed a ferine using them."

I growled under my breath when my father said that I almost killed his kind. My tail twitched and my fur bristled a bit. _It was for self-defense._ I thought like as if I was correcting him out loud.

I quickly turned my head back to the old woman and noticed that she was looking at me.

"Now, Clarice. Allow me to introduce myself." she said. "My name is Marianna."

"Nice to meet you." I mumbled, finally speaking.

"I say the same to you." she declared. "I know everything and everyone in this galaxy. And my job is to study these natural or paranormal things."

I remained quiet as she continued speaking, for I wanted to hear more.

"You want me to find out as to why you have these powers of yours, and why you keep on getting more rage as you keep on getting bullied correct?" she pondered.

I answered with a nod.

"Alright then." she said. "The reason why is because you are a special cat of your species. They are very powerful and have every single ability known to mankind. And your powers can be used for good Clarice. However, they can also receive grave danger to others."

I gasped softly as I hugged Father's side of his body and felt his hand press on my head as tears started to dwell up.

"You must learn to control them, Clarice." she continued. "Otherwise, your anger will take over your body...and your mind."

I dug my face into Father's body and started to cry. If this happens, what will Cadence think of me? What will Father think of me? Will they think I am a monster? I couldn't even bear to imagine. I then looked back at Marianna, tears drying off. "I'm sorry." I sniffled. "Please continue."

Marianna nodded and continued on. "Now, about the reason why you keep on gaining rage whenever you are being shunned by the other kids..." she muttered, being silent for a few moments before finally speaking again. "Your species possibly may have a short temper due to something. Now, I am not sure what that is but it's all a mystery for now."

I responded with a nod.

"Tell me, Clarice." she said. "What was it like, being bullied on that winter day?"

My ears drooped down when Marianna asked me that question. My eyes started to water once more. _Why did you have to remind me of that..._ I thought. _I was about to forget it forever too._ Taking a few deep breaths, I answered the old lady's question.

"Perfectly horrid." I described. "It felt like as if I was the villain and I was being defeated by the hero."

Marianna nodded, listening to my descriptions. "Go on."

"I tried my best to fit in, but-" I stopped in the middle of my sentence letting out a sigh. "they just don't want me..."

"Mmhmm." replied Marianna. "Can you draw of what happened?"

I nodded as she got out a piece of paper and a pencil for me to draw. With my telekinesis, I levitated the pencil and drew the picture of what happened on that winter. When I was finished, I showed the drawing to Marianna. She analyzed it for a few minutes before she looked back at me.

"So, this boy tried to suffocate you with a snowball, but you prevented him by using your powers for self-defense?" she asked.

I nodded in response.

"Hmm." she muttered to herself. "Can you try something in here right now? Like moving something?"

"Yes ma'am." I obeyed.

I looked around in the room and saw something that I could move. With my mind, I pushed a bottle with a note inside of it, which moved a few inches away. The grown-ups heard the sound of movement and they noticed that I moved one of Marianna's trinkets.

The old woman looked at me, eyes full of question. "So you tell your mind what to do, and it happens?" Marianna pondered.

"No." I replied. "I don't tell my mind what to do, no one does. My powers are like lions in a cage. They can't go away. It's not my fault, I want them to be gone too."

Marianna was silent for a bit and kept on staring at me. At first, I was a bit confused, but then I realized what she was looking at; my scars from the incident. "Did you do that to yourself?"

"No." I answered, shaking my head no. "That was the boy who tried to suffocate me. Please, tell me there's a way to get rid of them, please!"

"Well, I'm afraid I don't know." she said to my dismay."

Father was shocked, and out of nowhere, I made a surprised hiss. "WHAT?!"

"I'm so sorry, Clarice." she apologized. "If you were cursed with these powers, then I would've removed them without a problem. But due to me not knowing how to get rid of them if one was born with them, I can't."

I let out a furious hiss as my claws unsheathed themselves. Tears started to form in my eyes, and instead of a yowl, I broke out crying. "Please!" I sobbed. "There _has_ to be a way!"

Marianna got up from her seat and rubbed my fur with her hand. "I'm awfully sorry, child." she apologized again. "But whether you like it or not, you will live with these powers until the day you perish."

I kept on crying as I heard my father's voice talking to Marianna.

"Well, thank you for telling us everything you know, Miss Marianna." he said. "She can control them, I'm sure of it."

"Remember my words, Mr. Nikolai." I heard her spoke. "And have a good day."

"You too, ma'am. Come on, Clarice. Let's go home."

I followed Father and we left Marianna's house and went through the deep foreboding woods and back to the bright entrance and through the peaceful plains and up the golden stairs to Destonia.

* * *

I stared out the window later that night, watching the twinkling stars and the big white moon that looked like a bowl of milk to the average feline's eyes. I couldn't get over the fact that Marianna couldn't get rid of my abilities. Part of me was so angry that I could just destroy everything in my path, but the other part of me was sad and wanted to hide forever. I sighed and padded over to my bed, tired after a long stressful day. I covered myself with my blanket and turned off the lights, and drifted off into the land of slumber, hoping I would have peaceful dreams.

Unfortunately, it was the opposite. I saw darkness crippled across Destonia, every home and building was destroyed, and I saw Ferines that were either unconscious, or dead. I suddenly heard evil laughter from a distance. I skidded over to the sound and saw a cat with purple fur and had two yellow stripes on her back and had yellow eyes. She was stealing a Ferine's ability to keep it for herself. At first, I didn't realize who the she-cat was. But when she turned her head and revealed her face, my face gained a look of horror. That feline...was me...as an adult.

"FINALLY!" she cackled.

I was silent, for I was scared out of my wits. Still, I tried my very best to stand up to my future self. "F-Finally what?" I stammered.

She responded with a evil laugh and padded up to me. "I was always BULLIED for how different I was!" she answered with anger. Then she turned her head and looked back at the unconscious Ferine. "But I get to be the bully NOW! Ahahahahahaha!"

My legs shook and I trembled in fear. Is this what Marianna meant? That if my anger took control of my mind that I would turn into a bloodthirsty serial killer? I was about to make a comeback to my adult self, but she turned around and padded toward the Ferine who was gaining consciousness.

She chuckled as she summoned two scepters. One was white with an emerald crystal on top, and the other was yellow with a dark ruby on top. "Pitiful, Father." she mocked. "I have no use for a fool who wants me to change my destiny. Now, do you have any last words?"

My body quivered even more. _Why am I doing this?!_ I yelled in my mind. _If only I had listened to Daddy! It's all my fault!_

"No?" I heard my adult self. "Well then, by the power of Sectonia, turn this Ferine into a dark crystal statue!"

"NO!" I yowled, breaking into tears as I saw my future self crystalizing my father of all people.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I heard my future self cackling in the night.

* * *

Suddenly, my nightmare ended and I woke up with tears in my eyes. I took a bunch of deep breaths before I buried my face into my paws and started to cry for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ten years later, when I was fifteen, I was unexpectingly invited to a Ferine's birthday party. When I first read it, I acted a little suspicious at first, but the next moment I made a little smile. I knew it would be my chance to make friends, since I never did during my childhood. I was in my room wrapping up a present for the Ferine and picking out a dress to wear to the party. It took me a while to decide but I picked out a light blue dress with a floral pattern. Before I was about to put it on I heard a knock from my door.

"Come in." I said.

The door opened and I saw Father Nikolai, eyes filled with concern and worry at the same time.

"Clarice. Are you sure you want to go to this party?" he asked.

"Uh-huh." I answered. "This my biggest moment and I don't want to miss my attempt at making friends."

Father Nikolai still had worry in his eyes. He walked over to me and laid his hand on my shoulder. "Look, Clarice I know how excited you are but I'm not sure." he replied. "Marianna said that if the Ferines bully you-"

"I don't care what Marianna said." I remarked, interrupting my father. "I want to go out and be with other people my age. And besides, she said all of that to us a long time ago when I was only five."

Nikolai sighed in response. "Clarice, I don't want you to go to that party, understand?"

I scoffed at Father's answer. "No, I am going to that party. Come on Dad, this'll be my chance. I'm just gonna go to the party and see how it goes."

"Alright then." he sighed. "You can go. But don't stay there for too long."

I made a purr of amusement and hugged Father. "Thanks for trusting me."

Father Nikolai nodded and left the room. I continued getting ready for the party and got on my dress and finished wrapping up the gift that I was gonna give to the Ferine. I went downstairs and said 'goodbye' to my Father. But just as I was about to open the door, I heard my sister spoke.

"Hey, Clarice. Where are you going?" she asked.

I turned around and looked at her. I was rather confused as to why Cadence was talking to me; we haven't talked to each other for ten years straight!

"Out." I answered, not so specifically.

"Out where?" she asked again, tilting her head a bit.

"To a birthday party."

"Really? Is it Jodie's birthday today?"

My tail twitched in a bit surprise when I heard that name. "Jodie?"

"Yeah." she said. "You know, the humanoid cheetah Ferine that I met during the winter when we were really little. Do you remember her?"

My fur bristled a bit when she said "that winter". I remembered her clear as day now. She was one of the kids who told my sister to "control" me during the event of the incident. _Damn you for reminding me of that again, sister._ I thought angrily like as if I was saying that to her outloud. "Oh yeah, I remember her now." I said, trying to hold my anger in.

"I figured. Well can you tell her that I can't make it?" she requested.

"Why can't you make it?"

Cadence chuckled a little. "You don't remember? A week ago during dinner? I told Dad _and_ you that I got a part time job at the daycare and I have to go there to help the staff in an hour. That's why I can't make it."

"Oh." I replied sheepishly. Ever since the incident, I would normally not pay attention to Cadence's words. Even if she was talking to me and Dad both. "Sure. I'll tell her that."

"Great." she smiled swishing her tail. "Tell her that I said 'Happy birthday' too."

"I will." I said with a small purr. And with that our conversation ended and I left the house.

I couldn't help but smile a little as I walked over to Jodie's house. Not only do I get to go to my sister's friend's party, but I also got to talk to Cadence too. For the first time in forever, we managed to have a nice conversation with each other. I looked at the houses of the neighborhood, it was the same typical day as usual. Children playing, adults having chats. The usual. Later, I arrived at Jodie's house. However, the moment when I saw her house, my smile...disappeared. What if she and her guests bully me during her party? What if I make a mistake and she tries to kick me out. I felt the urge to go back home, for my stomach was now all knotted up. Nevertheless, I walked up to the door ever so slowly than a turtle. My paws shaked as I knocked on the glass door and waited for Jodie to answer. A moment later she opened the door.

"Hey." she greeted, not showing any emotion. "Clarice is it?"

I responded with a nod for I wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Kay." Jodie then noticed that Cadence wasn't with me. "Where's Cadence?"

"She-she..." I stammered, like as if I was a kit trying to say his or her first word.

"She what?"

"She can't make it, because...she's doing her job. She said happy birthday. I...have a present."

"Cool, thanks." she said taking the present from my paws. "Tell her that I said thanks."

"Can I come in?"

Jodie nodded and we went inside. We walked over to the living room and saw four more guests. There were three boys and a girl.

"Alright guys!" Jodie said now showing her emotions. "Let's get this party started! Clarice, you'll be in charge of music while we get the snacks, ok?"

I nodded and padded over to the radio and turned it on. The music began to play some hip hop, but I felt that it wasn't perfect. So I changed it to rock and roll, but then the only female guest besides me shoved me a little.

"Move over," she said. "We need to put on some pop music." With that she changed the music to pop.

I didn't mind that much, since I really don't have a taste in music. I walked away from the radio to join the group, I managed to see the two of three boys drinking what looked like something fizzy. I wasn't all that interested so I walked away before they could ask if I wanted some. I sat down on the sofa not thinking of anything to do at the party. I sighed, wishing that I should've stayed home.

 _Why did I want to go to this party, anyway?_ I thought. _I mean I know the reason was because I wanted to make friends but...these Ferines don't seem like the type of people I want to be with._ I sighed and looked down at my paws. I managed to hear a Ferine sitting right beside me.

"Hey." the ferine said, its voice sounding like a male. "You're Cadence's twin right?"

"Yeah." I answered, loud enough for him to hear but kept my head low. "What's your name?"

"Matthew." he said.

"Clarice." I introduced myself.

"Nice to meet you, Clarice. Say, are you having fun?"

"Maybe. I don't know." I sighed. "It's just I'm trying to make friends here, but I don't know if you all are my...type."

"Your type?" he wondered. "Are you the type who is shy and likes to spend their days in solitude?"

I chuckled a bit in reponse as I lifted my head up. "I suppose."

"I'm kinda like that type too. But I like to spend time with my friends too." Matthew informed himself.

I smiled a little. Maybe this could be my chance to make a friend after all. "I can see that."

"Well, how's your sister?"

"Well, she's fine. She couldn't make it because of her part-time job. But she wishes Jodie a happy birthday."

Matthew nodded. "Say, I just have one question for you."

I tilted my head, wondering what this nice Ferine had to ask. "Go ahead."

"What happened to you and your sister after the event happened?" he pondered.

My eyes flashed for a split second and my fur bristled and my tail twitched. I felt the urge to respond to him in anger, but then I realized that would ruin the moment of me making a friend. I sighed and my ears drooped down. "I don't want to talk about it."

In a flash, Matthew realized he said the wrong thing, and hit himself in the head. "Oh shoot...! Ugh, damn me. I'm so sorry, I hope I haven't upset you or anything."

"No." I said shaking my head. "No, it's fine."

Matthew nodded in relief, and looked away from me. Then slow dance music came on. "Oh! Slow dance! Wanna join?"

"Dance?" I tilted my head. "I don't know...I never danced before."

"Come on, it'll be fun. Trust me." he said, reaching his arm out.

My cheeks turned a scarlet tinge when I saw that he reached his arm out. "Well...ok." I said, my voice becoming a little flirty. I held his paw-like hand and rose up off of the sofa and we began to dance.

I never experienced this before, dancing with a random stranger that I just met at Jodie's party, on this day of all days. It felt like as if I was whisked away into a fairy tale and was dancing with a charming prince who saved me from a dangerous castle filled with mean monsters. I smiled a little as we waltzed on the carpet floor with the slow dance music still playing. Suddenly the radio got turned off and I heard Jodie.

"Come on lovebirds! It's time to open my presents."

Without another word, we stopped dancing and went back to the sofa. Jodie started to open up her presents, starting with mine. I expected her to like it but the reaction she had was not what I had thought it would be.

"What is this this...piece of junk...?!" she asked in anger.

"Th-That's a book, a-about legends and myths..." I stammered, scared of her reponse.

"Well, do I look like a bookworm to you?!"

I noticed that the guests also glared at me too, even Matthew.

"I-I'm sorry, I thought you would like it..." I sniffled, tears dwelling a bit as the Ferines ganged up on me.

"Did you even invite her?" one of the male guests asked.

"Ugh no. I only invited Cadence. Not _her._ " Jodie sassily answered.

"She doesn't deserve to be here." Matthew said like as if he didn't talk to me before. "Actually, she doesn't deserve to live in Destonia at all."

I then realized that Matthew was just jesting with me.

Before I knew it, I was pushed out of the living room and they shoved me in door on the side of the stairs and went back to the living room to continue opening Jodie's presents. They left me there, crying and sobbing in a small room. But I wasn't upset for long. My eyes glowed a dark bloody red as I kicked the door open with my own two paws. I growled as I stared at the door to the living room. I then made a sinister smile as I had a plan to get payback on them for what they did. With my telekinesis I moved Jodie's presents from where I was. If you were wondering why I knew they were her presents, I have an x-ray ability except I can't see people's bones. I then saw them gasp in fear and immediatley getting up.

"What was that?" I heard Matthew speak.

I then moved the coffee table by pushing it real hard that it hit the wall.

"I'm scared now." the female Ferine said. "Let's get out of here."

 _Oh no you don't._ I cackled in my thoughts as I locked the doors.

I saw Jodie trying to pull the door open but she wasn't able to. "It's locked!" I heard her. "The door's locked!"

"What's going on?!" a male Ferine said.

"We're not scared of your tricks Clarice! Do you hear us?!" Matthew yelled out.

 _Oh I hear you alright. This is what you get for saying that I need control Jodie!_ I then caused a whole bunch of items to move which scared the shadows right out of them. I kept on going and going until my rage was all gone and my eyes were back to their golden yellow selves. I walked out of the house and saw Cadence in front of the house.

"Hey, Clarice. I came to pick you up. Did you have a good time?" she asked.

"Oh I did alright." I answered, an insane smile creeping on my face that my sister didn't notice.

Suddenly the door bursted open and I saw Jodie, Matthew and the other guest jumping out, terrified and scared. I saw that Cadence gained a look of horror on her face.

"Jodie! What happened to you all?!"

" _She_ happened to us!" Matthew answered. "I knew it! You haven't controlled your sister at all, she's out of control!"

"What do you mean?!" Cadence replied.

"SHE TRIED TO KILL US! SHE'S THE DEVIL! SHE'S THE DEVIL!"

Tears dwelled up in my eyes, as I growled and glared at Cadence, my eyes glowing red. "You ruined, _everything_." I hissed in a low dark voice, and I ran off back home.

"Clarice, wait!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I was sobbing profusely in my room, rage still inside my mind. I was muttering curse words under my breath, saying my sister's name at the end of each word. Tears were still running down my cheeks, while my eyes were glowing a vermilion red and my fur standing up straight. I heard footsteps coming into my room and I knew that was my sister. My damn sister, who I thought was the cause of this crap.

"Clarice! I'm awfully sorry about what they said they didn't-"

"You ruined everything." I growled darkly in a low deep and scary voice, interrupting my twin's sentence.

"Wh-What...?!"

"You ruined everything!" I yelled outloud as I quickly turned my head and pointed my paw at Cadence.

" _I_ ruined everything?!" she replied in shock. "What did I do?!"

I stood up on all fours and walked closer to Cadence, claws revealed. I growled once again revealing my sharp feline teeth. "You know what you did, dammit!" I retorted. " _You_ wanted me to go to that party, just so I could get my reputation buried all the way to the depths of Hell! _And,_ YOU BETRAYED ME!"

"I did not betray you! I just wanted to make friends so I won't just be the cat who's only friends with her sister!" she remarked.

"And yet _YOU_ made _me_ the cat who doesn't have any friends! I hope you are happy you damn awful curr!"

"What in NOVA's name has gotten into you?!"

My eyes then glowed a light violet and my black pupils became thin instead of their usual round. I made a dark laugh as I got even more closer to my twin. I didn't respond, for I scratched her in the chest as hard as I could. A medium amount of blood dripped from her chest as I heard Cadence scream in pain and felt it coming on my paw and leg.

"Cl-Clarice...please...! It...doesn't need...to be...like this...!"

"Oh, it _does_ need to be like this." I chuckled villainously as I quickly took my claws out of my sister's chest and more blood came out. "And besides, none of this crap would've happened, IF YOU DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT ME AND STARTED TO STICK UP FOR THESE DAMN FERINES!"

My yelling echoed as I planted my paws on the floor as hard as I could, making a long crack which threw Cadence back out of the room completely. I then slammed the door loudly, and formed vines around it, inside and out. I opened my eyes which were back to their golden yellow, growling with my teeth shown and blood on my front right bottom of my leg, on my paw and claws.

* * *

In my mind it was completely white. With only me inside, and no twin sister or adoptive father. I heard whispers in my head and evil laughs. Their voices sounded very sadistic like the kind you would hear in your worst nightmare. They were telling me that I made the right choice and that I must join the dark side and stay in the darkness...forever. My mindself then saw a strange looking creature a few feet in front of me looking down at me.

It was a lavishly decorated being that resembled a giant wasp of some sort. It beared a primary blue and yellow striped body, with a pink heart on what looked like to be its thorax. It had four golden translucent wings, a wide regal crest, a gaudy gem-entrusted crown, a rather tiny waist, and two magic staves, one yellow with a dark ruby on top and one white with a emerald, which it was carrying them with its two disembodied hands.

But it wasn't the only creature that was in front of me, I saw another one and it too, looked different. It looked like a dark sphere covered in silver glowing stars. The top of it was dark blue, while the bottom, dark pink. It was wearing some shades with single black-chromed lenses that were flashing. Underneath the cloak though, was a wildly-twisting accumulation of darkness. It was wearing silver pauldrons and a small red medallion around its neck. And its teeth were sharp and rather jagged.

I was confused as to why I saw these creatures, and I stared at them for a while until I got off guard when one of them spoke.

"You made the right choice hurting her." said the wasp which sounded like a female.

"You are worthy enough to have the power, of the dark side." said the other being, whose voice was male. "Join us."

"And you will teach these pitiful creatures a lesson...one they will _NEVER_ forget." finished the wasp.

I didn't say anything for I was grinning wickedly, wanting them to take my insanity as a yes. It was a perfect thing that they said, that I was gonna teach the damn Ferines a lesson. Without a word, I walked towards them and the background turned from white to a pitch black in a split second. I was no longer sane. I was one of them now. A mindless brute who wants nothing but world domination. And revenge.

* * *

In reality, my eyes were closed and I still felt tears coming down my cheeks, but my body felt like as if it was growing stronger, my claws growing sharper and insaneness growing stronger. My eyes then opened and I saw the small transformation in my body. I was surprised that those two creatures I saw in my mind gave me this power from my head to the outside world. I then felt my eyes growing heavy and my legs becoming stiff, and before I knew it, my vision turned black.

* * *

A week later, I got sick. I figured I was going to be ill sometime after due to my transformation that I received. I was still in my room on my bed, wheezing and coughing. Due to my door being blocked by the vines I created after the argument my sister and I had, Father Nikolai and Cadence had no option but to leave me home alone and take care of the illness I've been infected with myself. I heard from my vine covered room that they were going to some festival that was being held by what Nikolai calls "The Hero of Destonia". When I heard those words, my mind felt uneasy. But not in a nervous sort of way. In a psychotic insane way. If that Hero of Destonia was a Ferine too and saw me at the festival if I wasn't sick today, I would think that he or she would misjudge me and treat me like those Ferines did at Jodie's party. And if he or she would've misjudged me and called me the devil, I would scratch that crystal red and pink heart out of his or her body, maybe even dismember their arms, legs and head if I could. Still lying in my bed in my quiet room with the vine blocked door, I looked out of the window, which my bed was next to. I could see part of the festival that was going on right now, I could even hear the laughter of the "innocent" Ferines. I then saw a Ferine that gained my curiosity. It was hard to make out of the Ferine due to it being faraway from my perspective. But when it walked close enough to the point that I could see it perfectly, I was able to catch a glimpse of the Ferine.

It was wearing a dress that was like the colors of an adult female deer, but with spots of a fawn on the side of it. I immediately realized the Ferine was a female. She was wearing a short cape that stopped at the middle of her back, and her hair was light brown and was about a medium-long length and had white spots at the end of her hair. Her skin was light tan and had freckles on her cheeks. Her eyes were gray with short eyelashes, and her ears were like the shape of an elf's and wore green feather earrings. Her legs did not look like human legs though, they looked like a deer's hind legs. And she had her crystal heart on her left hand, and had a strange looking symbol on her forehead that was showing under her hair.

 _Could that be the Hero of Destonia?_ I pondered to myself. _I remembered that Father mentioned to me that the way you can tell who the Hero of Destonia is, is by the symbol on their forehead._ Not even bothering to stay still for another minute, I got out of bed, unwrapped the vines telekinetically, and ran out of the house, despite being sick. I went in the direction where the festival was taking place, running as fast as I could with the energy that I had. When I arrived, I saw the same Ferine from before, walking up north deeper in the crowd. I followed her, wondering where she was going. She kept going deeper in the festival and in the crowd, but I still had sight of her. Eventually, she stopped as I did. I saw Father Nikolai and Cadence approaching her while I was hiding behind a medium-large rock. I leaned in a bit close, ear first, listening to them.

"Hello, Nikolai." I heard the female Ferine greet my father.

I saw my father and sister bowing to her.

"Hello, Hero of Destonia." I heard Cadence.

"Please just call me Fauna." She said. "I may be Hero of Destonia, but you don't have to call me by my title."

My eyes were wide in surprise. The Ferine; known as Fauna that I saw back home, was the Hero of Destonia. I felt the urge to hurt her now that I knew. But my body stayed in the same spot as I continued listening.

"Where's your other daughter, Nikolai?"

"She's home sick." My father answered. "I was going to stay behind and take care of her, but she blocked the door with some vines Cadence told me."

"Really? If she is at home then why do I see her hiding behind a rock?"

My body stiffened. I was spotted by the leader of Ferines herself. Part of me wanted to hurt her for no apparent reason, but the other half of me wanted to keep my true nature inside me. Taking a deep breath I walked from behind the rock, preparing what will happen next.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Clarice! What are you doing here outside of the house?! You have a fever!" Nikolai said, with surprise and sterness in his voice.

"I followed her." I answered.

"Let me guess: because of my appearance?"

I nodded in response. "You do look different from the other ferines. Are you-"

"The Hero of Destonia?" Fauna finished. "Yes, I am. Nikolai told me so much about you and your twin. We are good friends after all. Do you guys still get along?"

"Yeah. Sort of." Cadence replied.

"You mean we _used_ to." I corrected her. _Positive kitty, much?_

Fauna nodded. "Anyway, we were just about to start the ceremony. Wanna join us?"

My body stiffened in shock. _The Hero of Destonia wants ME to be a part of a ceremony?_ My eyes shifted to the side for a bit and my paws dug at the hard rock cobblestone. "Um, I don't know."

"Come on, Clarice. It'll be fun. Besides-" Fauna walked closer to me and whispered, "There's a chance you may light up the torch."

I faltered. Part of me wanted to just attack Fauna out of nowhere, but then again, this could be my chance to be loved by all.

"Well, okay, I'll consider it."

"Great!" Fauna smiled. "Come on, we gotta get to the main center of the festival."

Without another word, we walked to the main center of the big party. My family and I went to a spot where we could see the ceremony happen. A hundred and twenty seconds later, Fauna waked up on the stage, a couple of guards following her. Like as if everyone was a mind reader, everyone, including us, quieted ourselves down to complete silence.

"Ferines of Destonia." Fauna began. "As hero of our empire, I am glad that each and everyone of you are able to take time off your duties and enjoy this festival of our kingdom. Ever since the beginning of our species, our ancestors have fought hard and bravely to claim this land as our home. The war they battled against the Inferno Empire for them was rough, and many of those who have fought risked their lives in said war. And to honor our ancestors and the first Hero of Destonia, and missing the one that preceded me, one of you subjects will light the Torch of Honor."

The audience clapped their hands as I just stood there not even bothering to do their current charade. A ferine that looked similar to a mouse but normal sized walked up on the stage, holding a bowl with cards in it. I saw Fauna digging her hand inside and picked up one of the cards. When she read the card, and said my name, I was surprised.

"Clarice. You will light the Torch of Honor." she announced to the entire kingdom.

Of all the people she chose to light that torch up every year, she chose me. Questions began to flow into me as the crowd of ferines muttered amongst themselves. _Why me? There are a bunch of other damn ferines that are your kind. So why me? Is this some sort of trickery?_ Feeling awkward and nervous, I walked out of the crowd and up to the stage. Another ferine that was holding the Torch of Honor walked up on the stage and set it down in front of me and Fauna between. I turned my head around and saw a painting of what looked like to be the ancestors and the Inferno Empire. To be perfectly honest, the painting didn't look half bad. Impressive for creatures with an attached crystal heart that do nothing but be cowards and stay high up in the clouds all day, everyday, at least. However, there was one thing that bugged me...a lot. One of the Infernonians had a striking resemblance of me and Cadence's species.

Due to my hatred of the damn ferines, I growled on the inside of my throat, then turned my head back, just in time to see that Fauna was about to wrap her cape around my back. However, I immediately jumped to conclusions and thought she was trying to capture me. Without warning, I lashed out at her, making her fall to the ground, which caused the crowd to gasp in fear. I then started to attack her, scratching her face until she could hardly take an entire breath as the crowd screamed and scattered away from the brawl with fear. Then I felt a force trying to pull me back from my target. I quickly turned my head and saw her guards trying to stop me. But they were no match for me. I swiped them off the stage with a hard swoop of my claws. Then I felt a hard punch in my torso, making me writhe in pain. Seems like Fauna was not gonna go down without a fight. I grinned menacingly and thought; _Oh. I see how it is._

My paws glowed a venomous lavender and it flew right into my claws. I scratched Fauna's chest as hard as I could, making her shriek and cough as a large mixture of blood and poison came out of her wounds. But even that wasn't enough to take her down. She shape-shifted into a lion and flung me up in the air with her hind legs. I plummeted to the ground back first, feeling an enormous **THUMP** on the wooden floor of the stage. I felt like I was going into a coma at first for my vision became blurry and all I could hear was sounds of citizens screaming but that was faint, as if it were coming from far away. Then I heard the same male voice that I heard a week ago in my subconscious.

 _Keep going! Burn her to a crisp! Scratch that ferine until she's no more!_

I realized who that voice was when I heard him. And I realized who that warlock was when I saw him in my abstract thought; it was none other than Nightmare. You're probably wondering how I knew about Nightmare. Well, it was when Cadence and I were kittens, when we were close before the "incident" happened.

* * *

 _"Look at that star, Daddy! It shines real bright than all of the other stars!" I said._

 _Nikolai chuckled. "Indeed it does."_

 _"Do all stars shine like this, Dad?" Cadence pondered._

 _"Well Cadence," my father began. "Not all stars. Some are so far away, they don't shine bright. In fact, some of them aren't even stars at all."_

 _"Some aren't?" I wondered._

 _Nikolai nodded in response. "Some of them are planets. We live on one right now. Hope Star. There's also, Ripple Star, Pop Star, Popopo...and more."_

 _"Is there peace on each planet?" Cadence and I asked in unison._

 _"No, girls. Not all planets are peaceful. Some are in danger or dangerous. As a matter of fact, Popopo is a dangerous planet."_

 _"Popopo?" I asked, wondering as to why this planet was dangerous. "What's there?"_

 _"Popopo is a planet that is populated by Puffals, big and small. They aren't hostile aliens, but the Puffals are powerful and are known to copy anything they inhale." My father explained. "I'm actually good friends with one."_

 _"You are?!" My sister and I said in shock._

 _"Yes. He's actually the leader of the Galaxy Soldier Army. Or GSA for short. His name is Sir Arthur."_

 _"Wow!"_

 _"But why is Popopo dangerous, Dad?" I asked._

 _"Well, an evil warlock is actually targeting Popopo. His name is Nightmare. He's known for making evil beasts at his quarters. From what I heard from Arthur they are under a war against him."_

 _My fur twitched in fear. This Nightmare must be really mean if he's invading a planet of Puffals. "What if Nightmare comes here next, Dad?"_

 _"I assure you he won't." Nikolai said looking at me and Cadence with love. "Nightmare won't hurt you or any other Ferine. Not when I'm around you girls."_

 _Me and Cadence smiled and cuddled with our father as we continued looking at the stars._

* * *

Without hesitation, I quickly rose up to my paws and charged towards, Fauna, her back turned. I opened my mouth and dug my teeth into her lioness neck, making an elusive amount of blood come out. My ears began to ring when she started to yowl in pain. Then everything started to move at extreme speed. If I was correct Fauna must've been trying to shake me off. I still held on tight to her neck until I finally let go, tearing off a bit of her skin in the process. Unlike last time when she threw me off, I landed on my paws. Then I charged at Fauna once more, making a leap in the air before zooming down, claws first. But before I could unleash my final blow on the Hero of Destonia, I suddenly froze in my place, unable to physically move my body. I saw a wave of magic on front of me, before I ended up on the ground, stumbling. My mind was stirring, my vision was becoming blurry, and my hearing grew poor. My paws couldn't keep me standing anymore and I collapsed to the ground. I looked up and saw what looked to be Fauna, before my vision turned black.

* * *

Coldness. That is all I could feel in my fur and skin. Coldness. Vision of sight came back to me once I opened my eyes. I looked on the ground and realized I was lying on cold hard cement. And there was a bed and a sink and a toilet. There was nothing but darkness in this room I was in. The only way that light could stowaway in, was through the barred window. I then realized what this meant; I was trapped. In a cellar. In prison. But why? Why was I locked in here? My questions were quickly answered when a Ferine guard walked towards me.

"Destonia law is blunt on the subject of one who dares to attack the Hero of Destonia. And there is only one punishment." the guard said, with curtness as he unlocked the doors to my cell. "The sentence is death."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Death. That was my punishment. Death. Of all the punishments I have recieved from myself, this one...felt welcoming. Heh. That's sort of ironic. A villian welcoming her own death. You would totally expect them to just break free from jail and continue their hellish plan, wouldn't you? Well, no. Not for me. What was the point of me living in the Gamble Galaxy anyway? All I do is isolate myself from my family and people around me ever since the incident occured. And ever since that happened, half of me wanted to rebel against those who had cared for me most, and threaten to grip everyone who I loved and hated in permanent cold. But the other half of me had times of where I think of just ending my life so I won't have to suffer through this anymore. So people won't have to be tortured against my actions. Where I can finally be free from this damn curse. For my life was and still is...a bacon wrapped hell on earth.

The Ferine guard chained my legs and my neck, and made me follow him like as if I was his pet. We proceeded through the halls of prison cells, Ferines in each one. Some had their palms clenched against the bars, growling at us. Others were just staring at the walls of cement, counting the number of days they have been in prison. A few were just snoozing the day away in their beds.

 _Go ahead._ _Hang me. Poison me. Put me in an iron maiden. I don't care. Whatever type of death penalty you have for me...I'm ready._

Eventually, we stopped at a door. The guard opened it and we went outside. There, I was welcomed by a large angry mob of Ferines, some holding torches, and others holding pitch forks. The crowd was yelling out in anger, their torches and pitch forks held up high. Some chanted, "Burn that witch!" while others yelled, "She's a witch! Burn her at the stake! She doesn't deserve to be in Destonia!"

I turned my head away from the enlarged crowd and saw a large wooden stake that was surrounded by a pile of hay and fire wood. My throat snapped itself shut, making no voice come out of me and my eyes became as wide as the owl's; they were going to burn me at the stake. Of all the punishments...they chose this one. But why? Was it because now they all thought of me as a witch like Jodie and her friends do? Either way, this was how my life was going to end. We walked up to the stake, a couple of guards standing on each side. I was released from my chains, and the other two picked me up quite easily despite my weight. They wrapped chains around my body and my front legs, making sure that I would not escape. I looked amongst the crowd and wondered if my twin sister or Nikolai was there. Unfortunately, I couldn't see them. Though, it didn't really matter anyway. NOVA forbid, I didn't want them to see me being burned to death after what they had witnessed between Fauna and me at the festival. The angry mob marched closer towards me, some about to toss their torches on the hay and fire wood. I rested my chin on my chest, and closed my eyes, just waiting for a smell of smoke or my fur feeling a touch of blazing fire. Then, I heard a familiar voice before I blacked out last time, who sounded like she was hollering at the top of her lungs.

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

Silence immediately came and I quickly lifted up my head. Who, oh _who_ told them to stop? Was it Cadence? Nikolai? I squinted my eyes, trying to get a clear glimpse. It was Fauna. But why? She and I battled each other all because of me.

"Fauna?" one of the guards said. "Why stop the execution?"

"She's innocent." the Hero of Destonia answered.

I heard the crowd murmur in confusion, with a bit of angry remarks.

"It all sounds confusing, I'm sure." Fauna continued. "But let me explain. It wasn't her fault that she attacked me. I know what she's going through."

My mouth gaped a bit in surprise. _How in NOVA does she know about my curse?!_ I continued to listen as the crowd made a path for her to walk through. When she was at the point to where I stopped squinting, I could see she had some bandages on some of the wounds I gave her.

"Clarice may be mentally ill, according to Nikolai. But it seems wrong to just kill someone over the fact that they attacked me because of a mental problem they're facing. As my sister Cassiopeia once told me; 'Never hurt or kill a person if they're going through trauma. Be they normal or mentally ill'."

Once again the crowd muttered to themselves. I saw Fauna walking up to one of the guards. Her back was straight and her hands cupped together.

"Sir." I heard her say. "I know it's against Destonia law to spare the prisoner's life on the day of his or her execution. But, please. Let her go."

There was a few moments of silence before I heard the other Ferine respond, "Very well, Hero of Destonia. Even though we are breaking the law, you are right." I saw the guard turn his head towards his other comrades. "Release her."

I felt the chains slide down my body and heard the clink and clank of them on the stone tile. I was set on all fours by the guards themselves, flinching for a brief second. My front legs were a bit hurt from the chains being wrapped too tight and the same would go for my chest. I inhaled and exhaled a bit faster than normal, trying to catch my breath back for I could barely breath when that line of metal "pushed my rib cage".

I was about to ask Fauna why she sparred my life but she opened her mouth first. "Follow me." she said.

We walked the way where Fauna came in through the path that was between the Ferines. I looked at them from left to right, feeling awkward and confused. I could tell that most of them gave me death glares as we walked through. We reached the door, that Fauna came through and went inside the castle.

* * *

My life was sparred by the Hero of Destonia herself. But why? I had lashed out at her. In fact, I had almost taken one of her lives. I took a deep breath before I spoke. "Thank you, for sparring my life. But...why did you do that? You didn't have to."

"It's wrong to just kill someone over the fact that they can't control themselves anymore." Fauna answered. "Besides, I do know what you're going through."

"How? How do you know?"

"Your father. You didn't realize but, I was visiting Nikolai the other day." Fauna said. "I asked him where you were and he said that you were in your room. But he warned me to not go near you due to your condition. He theorized that you were starting to become mentally ill."

I nodded. _So that's how she knew about my curse._ "So...what are you gonna do with me now? Are you gonna banish me? Send me back to Nikolai and Cadence?"

Fauna shook her head. "No. I decided that you are going to stay with me for a while in the castle."

My fur stood up in shock and I stopped in my tracks. _WHAT?!_ "Wh-Wha...?! Why?! I nearly killed you, ruined the festival, hell I even gave you a bunch of scars on your face!"

Fauna turned around as she chuckled at my response. "It's fine, really. I only have seven lives left anyway, so the scratches don't really matter to me. But I do feel a bit dazed after that battle we had."

"But...why did I end up in the dungeon?" I inquired.

Fauna chuckled again. "My guards are _very_ protective of me when it comes to my safety. They must've thought I would've collapsed after you did, so they sent you to the dungeon while you were unconscious."

"Well that would explain." I said. "I guess."

Fauna nodded. "Now come along. We gotta get you cleaned up and get you out of that torn dress of yours." Fauna then giggled as she looked at my shredded dress that I wore since Jodie's party. "Looks like I did a number on you. My apologies. I am known for being a strong Ferine, not to brag."

Without a word out of me, we continued down the hall. We ended up at one of the door and went inside. My eyes shined immediately, in awe at the decorations. There was a chandelier on the ceiling wall, which had tan everywhere, and clouds with two deer-like goddesses, hugging each other and their legs intertwining. In the far back, there was a queen sized bed which looked like it could fit more than two. Next to said bed was a nightstand with a lamp and two pictures; one had two Ferines. The left one looked female and was a mix between a human and a wolf, the one on the right was male and was a mix of a deer and a human. The other one had Fauna in it and another Ferine that was female and a mix between a human and a wolf too and bore a slight resemblance to the male Ferine in the first one. In my mind, I assumed the Ferine in the second picture was Fauna's sister, Cassiopeia. The floor was tile, there was a slide-in closet, and there were two large glass doors which led to a balcony, with a large fancy glass window which gave a perfect view of land and ocean. NOVA and I would agree that this room could be fit for a king or queen creature of any kind.

"Let me get you out of that dress, Clarice." said Fauna.

Remaining quiet, Fauna walked around me to my back. I felt the brass part of my dress, sliding slowly down my back while hearing the zipper. Then a smooth feeling landed on my fur as I felt the dress being loosen up by the Hero of Destonia. She walked back to the front of me, as I lifted up one of my legs. Fauna gently slid the front of the dress down on both sides, then walked back and got the back side off.

"There we go!" she beamed. "Now, you go turn on the shower, while I pick out a dress for you."

"Where is the bathroom, exactly?" I asked.

"Oh, it's right over there." Fauna pointed to the door that was on the right side of her bedroom.

"Thank you."

I walked over to where the bathroom door was, using my telekinesis to turn the knob. When I walked in, I was amazed by the décor once again. The bathroom was large and had colored glass tile floor. There were two counters on each side of the entrance, both wielding two sinks. The tub was large like a hot spring and it had a walk-in shower northwest of it. It had two mirrors above both of the counters that were as clear as day, without a single stain on each. As for the toilet, it was in a small separate room.

 _For a Ferine her age, Fauna sure lives her life like a princess._

I turned on the shower, and set the water temperature to warm. The water soaked my fur and cleaned off the dry blood on my claws, a bit getting into my eyes in the process. While getting myself cleaned up, questions flew into my head, both having to do with the past and present. _Why did I disobey Nikolai? What will he and Cadence think of me now after what happened at the ceremony of the festival?_ And most of all. _Why was Nightmare wanting me to kill Fauna?_

I turned off the shower and went out, drops of water coming down my fur and landing on the tile. It wasn't wet for too long when it started to dry up. I grabbed a towel from a rack that was attached to a wall, and dried parts of my fur that were still a bit drenched. With the towel still on me, I walked out and saw Fauna, holding a clean dress. The dress was white and gold, and looked lacy and was medium short.

"Done with your shower, I see!" she began. "Now go and put this on!"

My reaction to the dress was rather queasy. I was unsure if I even wanted to wear said dress. To me, some dresses don't really match my lavender purplish fur which is why I would usually wear something dark to match my color scheme. Still, Fauna was the ruler of Destonia. So sometimes I had to do what the damn Ferines want me to do.

Not responding, I levitated the dress out of Fauna's hands, and went back inside the bathroom to change. Few minutes later, I got out, my left paw rubbing the tip of the long-short sleeves, trying to make it a bit comfortable at the least.

"What do you think, Clarice?" Fauna asked, a hint of joy in her voice.

I continued to rub the sleeves before answering. "I'm...not sure if this dress suits me..."

"It does. Trust me." Fauna replied. "Besides, it doesn't hurt to have an outfit that makes you stand out."

"I suppose..." I mumbled.

"Well, come on. We don't want to be late for dinner now do we?" she said.

"Dinner?" I asked, a bit confused.

"Well, yeah. It is nightfall after all."

 _How long was I knocked out?_

"Follow me; I know where the dining room is."

And without another word, we left Fauna's room and went down to the dining room.

* * *

"Here we are." Fauna said. "This is where you'll be staying."

The guestroom was a bit smaller than Fauna's bedroom, but it was still fancy like hers at the least.

I nodded in thanks, and received a smile in return from the Hero of Destonia before she closed the door. I walked up to the window sill and stared outside. The waxing gibbous moon looked much bigger than it was when I would look at it back at the cottage. This day was like a turn of events for me during my teenage years. I went to a party, got bullied, blamed my sister, abused her, isolated myself from everybody, got ill. Then I saw Fauna, having the urge to follow her only to bump into my family and joined a ceremony which ended in a catastrophe. And in the end, I was nearly executed but was sparred by Fauna herself, despite me bruising her really bad, like a cougar hunting a young fawn. I started to hum a little tune to myself, lying my head on my paws and closing my eyes for a few moments. Then I heard Nightmare's voice from before.

 _What are you doing?! Remember the plan! The plan!_

I immediately rose my head quickly and everything around me looked different. The night sky was an ominous dark purple instead of it's usual black, and the gibbous moon was gone. The stars were still there, but the sky was waving around like a ghost's sheets. The carpet floor was now made of metal and the walls were covered with vines, flowers on each. Their petals were open wide, but the stigma's were eyes. I heard evil laughter which echoed and sounded feminine. Then I heard Nightmare's laughter and saw his menacing grin in the ominous sky. I was breathing in and out very fast, freaking out. I clenched my paws against my ears and closed my eyes as tight as I could, just waiting for this hell of a monstrosity to end.

"No no no no no no!" I yelled. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

The laughter grew louder and louder as I tightened my paws up to my ears more and more. Soon it got louder to the point where I started to scream. All I wanted was to wake up from this nightmare of mine. I slowly uncovered my ears and my paws went down back on the sill. To my surprise, the laughter had died down, and the room was back to its usual state as well as the night sky for the moon was back in its spot. My heart was beating fast and my fur quivered from the traumatizing experience I just had. I perked my ears up a bit, checking to see if Fauna or anyone else heard my screams. Nothing. I sighed in relief, then padded over to the bed, feeling sluggish from the events I've been in today. Noticing that there was a pair of pajamas on the left side of the bed, I grabbed them by levitation, observing them. Then with no hesitation, I took off the dress, and got myself in sleepwear. To my surprise, it was extremely comfortable than the white and gold dress that I was wearing. It felt like as if I was free from this crappy life of mine. As I unfurled the covers the same way I did to pick up the pajamas, I couldn't help but rub my eyes and yawn in the process. I got on the mattress, laying my head on the big, fluffy, cotton felt pillow, extending my legs and getting into a cozy position for me to sleep in before I turned off the lights. Yawning once again, I curled the top half of my body a few degrees to the right, closing my eyes with a small smile. Sinking into the realm of deep sleep, I quietly prayed to NOVA. Praying that I will not have another one of these visions.

However, there is one thing I have learned; NOVA will not let you have things go your way.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sun rays beamed into my eyes, making me open them without control. The morning sun was like a calm, tranquil alarm clock that woke me up without the need to make noise. I yawned quietly just like any other cat would do, a bit of my tongue sticking out in the process of doing so, curling back up a bit. I blinked once. Then twice. Then multiple times to clear my drowsy vision. I wanted to move my body out of the bed, but it seems my back legs had other plans than to listen to my brain. I didn't really care, though. I didn't order a wake up call from the sun anyway.

 _Ugh...Why did I wake up? My legs are asleep and yet only a quarter of my body is awake. Sigh. I need more sleep._

My eyes were about to close when I heard the sound of the door opening and closing, and hooves clopping afterwards. My senses told me that it was Fauna going to wake me up despite that I was already awake from a few rays of sun.

"Morning, sleepy-head." Fauna greeted me, her voice sounding like a thread of silk from an arachnid's web.

I returned a tired moan to her and covered my head with the covers. "Give me one good reason why you made me sleep in a room where the sun can wake me up with ease?"

"So you can greet the morning sun after it greets you." she said.

I groaned as I uncovered my head. "That's not a good reason."

Fauna laughed. "Come on, Clarice. We have to get ready and have breakfast. The whole buffet isn't going to eat itself you know."

"I wish I could but my back legs would rather loaf around." I replied.

"Sleep paralysis, I presume?"

"Maybe. But I wouldn't be moving fully, so."

Fauna nodded. Then all of a sudden, I felt my legs twitch for a split second. I decided to stretch my body to get the muscles in my legs to move again. And once again, they followed my body's movements. I sat up and noticed that Fauna was on my side of the bed. Out of nowhere, she started to laugh, her mouth being covered by her hands.

I gave Fauna a confused look with a mix of drowsiness before asking, "What are you laughing at?"

The Ferine said nothing and continued on chuckling to herself.

"Ugh. Whatever. I'll just get ready for breakfast." I said, getting out of bed to go to the closet to pick something out and began to get ready for the day.

* * *

"Good morning, Fauna." greeted a human-eagle Ferine, that was wearing a dress and had shoes.

"Good morning, Weatherbee!" Fauna greeted back.

The eagle-like Ferine gave me a suspicious look before walking over to her seat.

"Clarice," Fauna began. "This is Weatherbee. She is one of the Sages of Destonia."

The Sage greeted me with a scoff as she sat down. I would respond back with an eye-roll, but I've been getting used to Ferines who scoff at me.

"Please excuse, Weatherbee." Fauna said. "She can be rather cynical at times, but she really is a nice Ferine!"

"I bet." I said sarcastically before taking my seat.

"Weatherbee? What's for breakfast?" The Hero of Destonia asked.

"The usual. It should be ready in about two minutes."

Fauna nodded before turning back towards me, saying, "Hopefully you like sunny side up eggs with bacon, Clarice."

"I don't mind at all." I replied with a subtle smile but stayed monotone.

The Ferine giggled in response as the door opened. Two chefs that were Ferines, one half lynx and half human, and another half badger and half human were holding our plates up high in the air in the most formal matter. They set down each of our plates on the table at the spots we were sitting at, and left the dining room. I turned my head to the left and saw Fauna, her eyes closed, hands cupped together, and whispering under her breath. Luckily, I was able to understand what she was whispering quietly, due to me having good hearing. My ears twitched as I was trying to listen closely, ignoring all of the other sounds around me. I closed my eyes, and slowly began to relax and focus. Until, I was able to understand her.

 ** _"What are you doing? Don't you remember? The plan?"_**

I gasped quietly, and started to slowly freak out. The voice I heard from Fauna's mouth did not match her voice. It sounded...off. Almost as if...Nightmare was communicating to me from her body.

 _ **"I made you stronger for a reason, Clarice. So you can make these hellish species be extinct for good. So that Fauna can be gone for good. So that the Guardian will no longer be aided by someone. You kill Fauna for me. I will kill that Guardian when the time comes. It'll be a win-win for the both of us."**_

 _"Wh-What are you saying?"_ I asked the warlock telepathically.

 _ **"Kill Fauna. Right here. Right now."**_

My ears quickly flopped down in shock. _"What?! Why now?!"_

 ** _"You don't remember do you? After that Ferine's party? You agreed with us. We didn't make you stronger for no reason, Clarice. Now do as I say. Kill. Fauna. NOW."_**

I didn't respond back to Nightmare, for I was trying to remember what happened. My eyes became brighter for a split second. I remembered now. After I brutally kicked Cadence out of my room, I was with Nightmare and that queen. And they promised me to make me get stronger so I can wipe out their existence. But despite my hatred of the Ferines, there was one small part of me that didn't want to hurt Fauna. But another part of me wanted to obey Nightmare's orders. I thought. And thought. And thought. Until I began to hear another voice coming out of Fauna's mouth.

"Clarice? Are you ok?"

It didn't sound like Nightmare the second time. It sounded like...Fauna. I immediately snapped back to see Fauna and Weatherbee looking at me with a tad of confusion but a wide brief of concern.

"You were staring off into space." said the Sage. "Is there something wrong."

I remained silent for a few moments before I stammered. "N-Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?" Fauna asked. "You look anxious and your ears are droopy. It's like something's troubling you."

 _Damn you Nightmare. Why did you have to make me see things in front of them?!_ "I'm fine. Really. You don't need to be concerned."

"Come on, Clarice. You can tell us."

"I told you, it's none of your concern." I told Fauna in a stern tone.

"Please, Clarice." Fauna replied, her voice even more worried. "Can you tell us?"

I glared at Fauna, my frustration growing. My ears became hot as a desert, and I shifted my claws as my heartbeat pumped faster and faster. "I. Told. You. It's _none_ of your business!" I got off of the chair and stormed off, my anger getting the best of me. However, deep down inside, I knew they wanted to get my problem off of my chest. But if I told them about the hallucination just now, and last night, what would they say? What would Fauna say?

* * *

I laid on the bed in the guest room of the castle, my head down and my eyes dim than normal. Letting out a sigh, I stared at my claws. They still had Cadence's dry blood stains on them and were now the color of sienna and smelt a bit bad. I made them a bit sharper than before, wondering if I should kill myself right now. After all, my twin sister fears me, everyone in Destonia holds a grudge against me after the battle at the festival, and Nightmare is bugging me with these bloody hallucinations. I feel like I have nobody else to trust besides myself and Nightmare. And yet, a bit of me doesn't trust him. My eyes began to water and I buried my head in my paws, letting out small sobs. I heard a knock on the door, which I didn't respond to. My only wish right now was to be left alone. Once again, I heard another knock, only this time a voice from behind the door was added.

"Clarice? Are you in there?"

I muttered under my breath, immediately realizing that it was Fauna who was behind said door. "Leave me alone, Fauna. I'm fine." I said, my tears still producing.

"Clarice, please let me in. You're obviously not ok."

I huffed and rolled my eyes and didn't respond back. Eventually, Fauna let herself in. I heard her hooves clopping towards me and sitting down on my bed. She pressed her hand on my fur and stroked me gently.

"Are you thinking about the incident at the festival?" she asked in a calm tone, but still had worry in it.

No words flew out of my mouth.

"Is it what happened at the execution?" she guessed.

Nothing.

"Clarice, please tell me. I hate it when people are sad or hurt."

"I already told you." I said, finally responding to the Ferine. "It's none of your concern."

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." Fauna replied. "But remember; I'm your friend, and I'd never judge you for anything."

The word that Fauna said echoed in my head. "Friend? Since when were _we_ friends?" I asked, looking at Fauna with surprise.

"When I saved you from being executed. Cassiopeia told me, that if you save someone, it makes them your friend."

"H-How though?" I stammered, slightly confused. "We barely even _know_ each other."

"Clarice. Let's not dwell on that matter. Do you want to tell me what's been bothering you or not?" said Fauna, changing the subject.

I said nothing for a couple of seconds before sighing and facing the head of the bed once more. "I...guess there is something I want to talk about."

"I'm listening." replied the Ferine.

My stomach immediately became all tied up in knots as I took a few deep breaths and rubbed my eyes to try and prevent myself from crying. "Well last night...I heard a voice..."

"What did it sound like?" inquired Fauna.

"Horrid, small and brief echoes after every single sentence..." I answered.

"Was it male or female?"

"Male."

"Did you know who's voice that was, Clarice?"

Silence came out of my mouth, trying to find the right words to say to Fauna. I knew that it was Nightmare's in the hallucinations, but if I told her that it was him...what would she do? I looked at Fauna once again. She was looking at me, waiting for an answer to pop out of my mouth.

"It...It was...Nightmare..." I answered, finally letting the words out.

Fauna's eyes widened in shock and surprise, and her mouth opened slightly. "Wha-?! That sounds serious! What did Nightmare say to you?! What does he want to do with you?! Why is he bothering you?!"

Out of control, my eyes began to water and shed some tears. "L-Look, I don't want to say anymore! Just...leave me alone! OK?!" I shouted, sniffling and sobbing.

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of, Clarice." Fauna said, continuing to rub my back. "Can you please tell me more?"

"I'm not going to say anything else!" I cried. "Just drop it and leave me alone!"

"Clarice...please...just tell-"

"Do I have to repeat myself?!" I yelled, still producing tears. "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"

Out of anger, I scratched Fauna in the cheek. She immediately screamed in pain before clenching on to it. I turned my head around and continued to sob before I heard her leaving the room a few moments later.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, I left my room and went to the garden of Fauna's castle. My eyes were red from crying, and I couldn't get Nightmare's voice out of my head.

 _ **Kill. Fauna. NOW.**_

As much as I wanted to kill a Ferine because of how they treat me and say that I don't belong in their home kingdom, there was still a small part in my heart that wanted me to spare her. I wanted to fight back against it. But I was too tired to do so. Letting a sigh escape my lips, I laid down on the grass and rested my head on my paws. All I wanted to do now was sleep. My eyes started to slowly close as I stared at the blue sky. The sun's warmth was like a blanket and the grass was a like a large bed. Eyes fully closed, I was about to get pulled in a deep slumber until I heard a voice that sounded fuzzy to my ears

 _Hello sleepy head._

My eyes cracked open a bit and I let out a tired _mew_ before I yawned. Slowly turning my head, I saw Fauna standing over me, making a calm smile. I sighed irritatingly, wishing that she would at least give me some space for at least the rest of the day.

"What do you want?" I asked annoyed.

"Well you looked kinda lonely so I came out here." answered Fauna.

"Just leave me alone." I said. "I have no one but myself in this living hell."

"You have me." Fauna said, sitting down beside me.

I sighed and laid my head on my paws. "Why are you even being nice to me? Why not just treat me poorly like the others do."

"Because, it's no fun living your life all alone and being filled with loneliness." Fauna replied. "If you have friends, you won't feel like you're trapped in a dark hole. You'll feel happy and warm inside since you have someone who will stick up for you."

I didn't say anything and just stared at the grass that was flowing in the gentle breeze as Fauna continued.

"Just look at the Star Warriors of the GSA. I bet they have a lot of friends that they can count on to help each other during the Great War. Just like how the Guardian will count on me to aid him when he will destroy Nightmare."

I quickly turned my head back to Fauna, a bit surprised. " _You're_ the one who's aiding the Guardian?"

Fauna responded with a nod. "Yeah. He has been mentioned in books of legend."

* * *

I immediately remembered Nikolai reading me and Cadence one of those books that had the Guardian mentioned. He read chapter 13 to us on page 90, and it said in quote.

 _ **"Long ago, when Guardians and Distorts were around, there lived a boy. This young boy was a Puffal, with pink skin and had rosy red cheeks and feet, and had eyes that shine as bright as sapphires. His name, was Kirby of the Stars. A very powerful creature that could beat monsters despite the odds against him and was the youngest of all the Guardians. He even had the power to destroy the most wanted Distorts, Nightmare, Zero, and Dark Matter. Unfortunately, due to the massive power Kirby had in his blood, he was made as a target for attackers. But no matter how great in size, Kirby would always have the upper hand. Aside from being strong however, he was a good person at heart and always helping those in need. No one knows if the legend of Kirby will happen or not, but the whereabouts of where he will be born will be either on Hope Star, Pop Star, or in the GSA."**_

* * *

"Do you think the legend of him will happen in reality?" I asked.

"I hope it does." Fauna replied. "NOVA forbid, Nightmare is a real nuisance to deal with. Especially since he is giving you these hallucinations."

I made a small nod then sighed. "Do you know why he is giving me those?"

Fauna became silent for a little bit before speaking again. "I'm not sure, Clarice."

Silence came after Fauna had spoken. For a bit we looked at the sky that was now a bright blue. I couldn't help but make a few purrs while staring at the clouds. It felt serene in the garden of the castle. The second you walk in, you would start to feel at peace. The variety of colors the flowers had, and how green the hedges and the trees look. It made you feel the urge to lie down and have a peaceful nap. I heard Fauna sighing peacefully, feeling the same way as I was.

"This reminds me of when Cassiopeia and I would be in the garden just looking at clouds." she smiled, cutting off the silence.

"Is Cassiopeia your sister?" I wondered.

"Yes. She was Hero of Destonia before I succeeded her place." Fauna said.

"What happened to her? Did she retire? Is she dead?"

"She's out there somewhere." the Ferine replied.

"Did she run away?" I asked again.

Fauna shook her head. "When I was under training, the Inferno Empire attacked Destonia. Weatherbee told me to stay by her side, but I didn't listen. Instead, I went to help Cassiopeia. I lost my first life trying to help her, but when I woke up, Weatherbee told me that my sister was captured."

Tears began to form in Fauna's eyes as she continued explaining. "I thought it was my fault that my sister got taken away. If only I had listened to Weatherbee..." she sniffled. "Ever since I became Hero of Destonia, I didn't know what to do."

I blinked slowly, listening to the Ferine as she kept on going.

"I never knew my parents; they both died a few days after I took physical form. All I had was Cassiopeia and Weatherbee. But once I took over, Weatherbee acted cynical towards me." Fauna then clenched her hands on her dress. "Those first few days as ruler, all I wanted was Cassiopeia to be here with me."

Streaks of tears finally ran down her eyes as she continued to speak, her voice cracking every few words. "She was there for me every second of the day. She would always keep me warm and accompanied. But now...she's not here. She's either out there fending for herself, or with NOVA. I want her here, keeping me warm and happy. I do not want to be cold. I do not want to be lonely..."

I was speechless once I heard Fauna's muffled sobs. She thought it was her fault for not listening to someone she was close to. Like how it was my fault for not listening to Nikolai on that winter day. I didn't know what to say to make her stop weeping. All I could do was give her a rub on her back with my tail, as I gave a look of empathy. Five minutes later, Fauna finally lifted her head.

"Thank you, Clarice. I needed that." she smiled lightly.

I made a small smile back to her before I felt a stab of realization. "Oh! That reminds me, Fauna. I...never got to thank you."

Fauna made a confused look. "Thank me? For what?"

"Back then. When you spared me from being executed. I never got to say thanks. So...thank you."

Fauna chuckled and gave me a brief stroke before replying. "Your welcome, Clarice."

I purred before I turned my head to look at the sky once again. For once in my life, I actually felt happy around another Ferine besides Nikolai. Fauna was the only one outside of my family who was ever nice to me in my life. Even if I pushed her away, I felt that we had a connection between the two of us. For once, I finally felt that I had something I never had during my childhood. A friend.


End file.
